The present invention relates to decorative and educational displays of a flowing liquid and more particularly to a decorative and educational waterfall device in which a substantially continuous film of a liquid, such as water, low viscosity oil or an aqueous solution, extends between two vertical guides and to a method of creating a decorative waterfall.
Conventional decorative water or waterfall displays are typically constructed for indoor or outdoor use in pools, spas or the like. These water or waterfall displays generally use a plurality of water chambers and wide, flat spouts to create thick and discontinuous streams of water that fall a short distance into the pool or spa below. One of the problems with such devices is that they are primarily designed for use with large volumes of water, which makes it difficult to use the devices in indoor water displays. Moreover, such prior art waterfall displays do not form a continuous film or layer of downwardly flowing water, but rather form thick, turbulent streams which tend to splash and are not particularly attractive as a decorative display. Additionally, the waterfall produced by such devices tends to separate into one or more generally cylindrical streams of water as it falls because of the strong surface tension of water that tends to pull the water flow together. Examples of such devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,881,280 to Lesikar; 5,537,696 to Chartier; and 5,738,280 to Ruthenberg.
Decorative indoor water displays are known in the art. However, the known indoor water displays do not create an unsupported film or laminar sheet of water. Instead, such displays are characterized by flowing water over a solid or broken solid surface, such as an inclined or vertical plate. The water adheres to the plate surface as it cascades down. Such displays do not create a transparent film of water, but merely flow water over an existing structure to create a rippling effect. An example of such a device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,747,583 to Dunn et al.
Indoor displays that are used to advertise oil are known in the art. One of the problems associated with the existing advertising display devices is that in order to function, they require the use of viscous fluids, such as lubricating oil. U.S. Pat. No. 1,689,790 to Lefevre, Jr. discloses an oil display device. Lefevre, Jr. however, is limited to maintaining a thin film of viscous liquid. The device relies on the high viscosity of the liquid displayed to create a film. Another problem associated with the Lefevre, Jr. device is that in order to maintain contact between the viscous liquid and two guides, it relies on forming the guides such that they converge at the bottom of the device. As a result of these deficiencies, the device disclosed would not be able to maintain a film of aqueous liquid. Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 1,837,225 to Lipski discloses an oil display device for displaying cyclic movement of an oil film, and is adapted for use only with lubricating oils and other liquids with high molecular adhesion. The Lipski device is similarly not suited for low viscosity liquids, such as water or aqueous liquids which have low molecular adhesion and high molecular cohesion.
The devices disclosed in the aforementioned patents suffer from many deficiencies as described above. It would be desirable, therefore, to provide a decorative and educational indoor waterfall which utilizes a low viscosity liquid, such as water or other aqueous liquid, to form an attractive display of a continuous liquid film between two limiting guides. From the standpoint of education, it would be desirable to provide a waterfall device that is not only decorative, but also is suitable for use as a demonstrative aid in teaching the physics of liquid flow, surface tension and other hydrodynamic concepts.
In view of the foregoing limitations of the prior art devices, as well as other disadvantages not specifically mentioned above, it should be apparent that there exists a need in the art for an indoor waterfall which can be used for decorative and educational purposes as well as for humidifying a space. It is therefore a primary objective of this invention to fulfill those needs by providing a decorative waterfall device that forms an attractive, substantially continuous film of water or aqueous liquid between a pair of vertically upstanding guides and that can be used educationally to explain hydrodynamic concepts. It is also an objective of this invention to provide a method of creating a decorative waterfall by forming a thin, continuous water film between two upstanding guides.
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a decorative waterfall in which a readily available liquid, such as water or other aqueous liquid, can be used to create an attractive waterfall device with a continuous liquid film.
It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a decorative waterfall device which is easily maintained such that the device does not require the cleaning of slippery, messy lubricating oils from the device and its surroundings.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a pleasant, unique and attractive decoration suitable for indoor or outdoor use.
Still another objective of the present invention is to provide a waterfall device that can be used to humidify the air in the space surrounding the waterfall device.
Yet another object of the present invention is to create a soothing environment with the soft susurrus of water.
A further object of the invention is to provide an interactive educational device for teaching fluid dynamics concepts, such as surface tension, laminar and turbulent flow and the like.
It is another objective of the invention to provide a decorative waterfall device with a light source for illuminating a continuous water film or for projecting an image onto the film to enhance the attractiveness and utility of the waterfall device.
It is a further objective of the invention to provide a decorative waterfall device made of a synthetic stone material with a three dimensional or bas relief sculpture, fresco, mural or the like located behind the sheet or film of water that forms the waterfall.
Yet another object of the invention is to provide a method of starting the decorative waterfall of the invention.
With the foregoing and other objects, advantages and features of the invention that will become hereinafter apparent, the nature of the invention may be more clearly understood by reference to the following detailed description of the invention, the appended claims and to the several views illustrated in the attached drawings.